engraved
by frozenmango
Summary: In which You and Yoshiko go to the beach.


Yoshiko hated beaches.

What the hell was there to even _like_ on beaches? The beach was _dry,_ sand was _everywhere,_ there was an infinite source of water that she couldn't even _drink_ from, and _yet,_ people still _loved_ the aspect of going to the beach for whatever reason.

And You happened to be one of those people.

"I _still_ don't understand why _we_ have to go to the beach," Yoshiko whined as she laid under the umbrella, spread-eagle. She didn't dare to move; she felt unbearably sluggish and gross, and the only time she moved was to either go to the bathroom or get a bottle of cold water from the nearby snack shack.

"Oh, don't be like that, Yoshiko-chan!" You gave that cheery laugh of hers, and for a moment, Yoshiko felt a sudden urge to punch her. "The beach is _fun!"_

"That's what _you_ think," Yoshiko scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

"It's what I think because it's a _fact."_

Now Yoshiko _really_ wanted to punch her.

" _Please,"_ Yoshiko began with a sarcastic bite, "explain to me this fact."

"Well, one, you get to be out in the sun! And play in the water! And there's so much you can do in the sand! Like, you know, build castles and stuff. Let your imagination run wild, you know?"

"Wow, never would have thought."

"And you get to have so much fun with friends on the shore! Like, even if you can't swim, you can still enjoy being in the water, you know? You can walk along the shore, and let the ocean cool you down!"

"I _love_ hypothermia."

"And the entire day just becomes this whole memory you never, ever forget," You said, her tone suddenly turning warm. Any sarcastic remark Yoshiko was ready to spit out died on her tongue as she stayed quiet, waiting for You to continue.

When You didn't say anything, Yoshiko quietly asked, "That so?"

You nodded, then said, "I've made a lot of happy memories here. A lot of them were with Chika-chan and Kanan-chan, but there are some with Pops when he came home. And there was that one time with Aqours, too! But now"—You turned to her and just _grinned,_ and for a moment, Yoshiko thought she was staring straight into the sun—"I get to make memories with you over here! And what's there _not_ to enjoy about that?"

Blood rushed to fill Yoshiko's cheeks, burning her skin from the inside as she stared at You with an open mouth. There was something about You and her open-hearted honesty that threw Yoshiko off, and honestly, she couldn't tell if she hated it or loved it.

What she did know, however, was if she kept staring at You she was going to go blind.

Yoshiko quickly averted her eyes, opting to stare at the crowded beach shack in the distance. "Th-the hell? How can you say that with a straight face?"

You laughed, and Yoshiko tried to ignore how her heart jumped at the sound. "I'm just super excited, I guess. I mean, we live so close to each other, but we never really hung out together, you know? I think this is the first time we've been alone together."

"…Yeah, I guess you're right."

"So!" Yoshiko felt the blanket underneath her shift as You stood up. "Let's go and make some memories! Just the both of us!"

Yoshiko wished that she didn't turn her head to look at You because the early afternoon sun was directly behind her, forming a faint halo around her toned figure. And just then, as if Mother Nature decided to mock her even more, an ocean breeze ran its fingers through You's naturally mussed hair, messing it up even more as she grinned on.

Yoshiko felt the urge to run to the shack for her third bottle of water that day.

But a gentle hand grabbed her wrist and effortlessly pulled her up. Yoshiko let out a squawk of surprise as she tried to find her balance. When she did, she realized just how _damn_ close she was to You.

Yoshiko now felt the urge to pass out from all the blood rushing to her head.

"Let's go to the ocean!" You says with a salute and wink. "Full steam ahead! _Yoshiko!"_

At least hearing her real name was enough cold water to shake her out of it.

"It's Yo _hane!"_

-X-

"Ah, that was super fun!" You cried out, stretching her arms over her head as she sat down. "I'm really glad that we came today! How about you, Yoshiko-chan?"

Yoshiko looked at her with a deadpan expression, her entire face bright red. "Totally."

You burst out laughing, her laugh ringing out through the emptying beach as she clutched at her sides fighting for breath. "O-oh, I-I'm s-so—so s-sorry, Y-Yoshiko-chan," she wheezed.

"I'm sure you are." Sarcasm dripped from Yoshiko's voice as she rolled her eyes. "But _why_ me?" She asked, her voice turning into a whine. "I won't be able to lie down for a week!"

You forced herself to stop laughing, little giggles bubbling out as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. "Oh _God_." she said, her cheeks hurting from as she glanced at Yoshiko's bright-red shoulders. "Luckily, I have ointment."

"You have ointment?"

"Of course I have ointment," You said as she opened her drawstring. "I need to be prepared, after all." She took out a bottle of aloe vera oil and shook it to prove her point.

Yoshiko's face turned an even brighter red, and You wondered if the sunburn was just got even worse.

"…Thought you were the type of person to get strung along with Chibaka's plans without a care in the world."

"I am," You admitted with a laugh, "but I always made sure that Chika-chan would be fine afterwards. So I always carried bandages if she got scratched, or ointment if she got sunburnt. Still do, actually."

"Isn't that supposed to be Kanan's job? Because she's like, I don't know, the dad of the group?" Yoshiko winced when You began to apply the oil on her skin.

"She's like that now, but"—You sighed as a nostalgic smile crawled onto her face—"she was a complete idiot as a kid, now that I think about it."

"Really?" Yoshiko didn't even try to hide the surprise in her voice.

"Yeah." You laughed before pointing out an abandoned dock in the distance. "You see that over there?"

"Yeah?"

"We used to go diving there all the time as kids. And there was this one time the water level got really high, and Kanan-chan still wanted to go swimming. Chika-chan wanted to go too, but she was scared to jump in, so Kanan-chan had to coax Chika-chan to jump down. And she did, and Kanan-chan caught her."

"Wait, isn't that dangerous?"

"Yeah."

"Couldn't they have drowned?"

"Probably."

"Why do you sound like you're smiling about this?" Yoshiko looked over her shoulder with a look that was a cross between concern and surprise.

"Because," You began with a laugh, "it's one of those memories I was talking about!"

"You keep talking about memories," Yoshiko mumbled under her breath. "I don't really get it."

You hummed as she clicked the cap of the aloe vera closed. "Well, I mean, even if it's the beach, there's only so much that you can do, right? Even I get tired of the same-old, same-old. But when you go out here with friends, even the mundane gets really, really fun! Together with friends, whether it's on the beach or not, that's always fun in general! But it's even more fun when it's on the beach! And it's easier to remember, you know? Because even though everything is changing around us, the ocean is one thing that won't change. And every time you look out, you'll think about the beach, and the beach will remind you of all the find things you've had."

Yoshiko stayed quiet for a moment, her eyes drifting off into the distance as she mulled over You's words. "Yeah," she said after a while, "I think I get it."

You broke into a grin. "That's great!"

A moment of silence passed through them.

Yoshiko was the one who broke it.

"—again," she mumbled.

You tilted her head. "I'm sorry?"

Yoshiko's cheeks turned a bright shade of red. "I said I want to…again."

You raised an eyebrow and her lips quirked into an amused smile. "You have to speak louder, Yoshiko-chan."

Now Yoshiko's cheeks were the same color as Ruby's hair. "I said I want to come back here again! You know, to make m-memories with you! A-and it's Yo _hane!"_

You's smile disappeared for a moment as she tried to process Yoshiko's words. When she did, You felt her heart ramming itself into her ribcage, its echoes ringing in her skull. She broke into the biggest grin she could muster, the excitement of more fun times to come already pumping in her veins.

"Yeah!" She exclaimed. "Let's have more fun together and make more memories together!"

What happened next threw You off guard. Yoshiko immediately broke into a grin, the kind where she closed her eyes. With the setting sun was directly behind her, and gave her an heavenly halo of orange and pink. Her sunburnt cheeks accentuated her charm, and her skin gave a faint glow. You felt like she wasn't even looking at someone human anymore; she felt like Yoshiko was something else, something otherworldly.

Like—like an angel, flung out of space.

"Me too." Yoshiko's grin never faltered.

"I—I can't wait," You said.

But even as she said that, You knew that Yoshiko's smile would be her favorite memory of all time.

* * *

 **AN: i've been listening jimoto ai mantan summer life non-stop for the past two days. and i thought it was finally time to write about these two.**

 **sorry if they seemed ooc; it's been ages since i actually managed to write and finish something.**

 **im also on tumblr: imsvg**


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